Spring has arrived! But, every year at this time, I go through so many pairs of gardening gloves, I would be embarrassed to put a number to it. I save them all in a bucket and wear mismatched pairs until they are too worn out to use. Then I put them in the compost bin I reserve for weeds, only because I can’t bear the thought of all my gardening gloves going to a landfill. But, this year I am contemplating something new: gardening gloves from West County Gardener. These gloves have an eco-friendly spin: Their mesh fabric is made from recycled plastic bottles. Each pair of West County garden gloves keeps an 8-oz. water bottle from going into a landfill. The company’s founder, Beverly Schor, had the idea for the gloves in 2001, when she had a “light bulb moment” when she was gardening and noticed the sad condition of her month-old garden gloves. With a background as a cyclist and sports apparel designer, Schor noticed that many of the qualities she loved in her sport gloves were not evident in her garden gloves. She went to work to create high-performance gloves for gardeners of all kinds. The result is a line of lightweight gloves that uses the best technical fabrics and design know-how that has traditionally been reserved for serious sports enthusiasts like cyclists and rock climbers. Ms. Schor reported to Treehugger.com that the “gloves took roughly 23 months of testing and that ultimately they use 75% less energy to make than standard virgin polyester gloves and produce 40% fewer greenhouse gas emissions. Aside from gardening, landscaping and heavy construction, you can also use the gloves for skiing, driving, or anything else that you might need to protect your hands from.” West County Gardener is “committed to developing high quality, innovative products that are less harmful to the environment.” Now, if they offered a take-back program, these gloves would be absolutely perfect. Prices range from $10 to $36 per pair. To find out more information or to order West County Gardener gloves, call 1-800-475-0567 or go to westcountygardener.com.